Living as a Victorious Christian Woman

These cheesecake bites are a fun way to showcase your favorite breakfast cereal. They're sweet and crunchy all rolled into one amazing little package. There are literally hundreds of candy molds out there, so you can create a holiday-themed treat or just something special for an ordinary day. Once you've made them with one kind of cereal, you'll definitely want to try more. Ingredients: 2 blocks cream cheese, softened 1 cup powdered sugar 1/2 cup of your favorite cereal 1. In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the cream cheese and powdered sugar. If it's not sweet enough, add powdered sugar in 1/4 cup increments. 2. Gently mix in cereal. 3. Press mixture into a silicon candy mold. Freeze for 2-3 hours. 4. Once solid, remove the cheesecake bites from the mold, then refrigerate.

There is rarely a time when I go to the dollar store and don't walk away with a dozen ideas for new craft projects. Part of it is the incredibly low prices, and the other part is the ever-changing inventory. So when I saw these packages of blank labels, my mind went to work. There are between 50 and 60 labels in each package, so there are many options for decorating and creating something new and interesting. One of my favorite ways to decorate labels is also a great way to use that huge rubber stamp collection. Combine phrases with sweet images for one-of-a-kind sticker labels. To stamp images that run over the edges of the label without them looking messy, cut masking tape to fit around the outside of the label lines. Then stamp, let dry and then peel the tape away.  These darker labels are the perfect place for clear stickers with white lettering. It can be difficult to read white writing on many surfaces, and it can be hard to find background colors and pat...

If you aren't a big fan of tuna, you'll want to try this amazing recipe. A little bit of BBQ sauce tones down the fishy flavor while giving it a huge boost of taste. You'll never look at canned tuna the same way again! Using a grill pan for these enchiladas is possibly the most important part of the whole recipe. The ridges in the pan will make crispy marks on the tortillas, adding the perfect amount of crunch. There are many variations of ingredients you can add to this dish, and I've chosen just one to share with you today. Once you've tried this one, create your own combination and share it here. Ingredients: 4 medium tortillas 2 large cans of tuna 1/4 cup honey BBQ sauce 1/8 cup peach mango salsa 1/4 cup plain kernel corn 1. Spray your grill pan with nonstick spray and warm over medium-high heat. 2. Combine the tuna and BBQ sauce in a medium bowl. Divide evenly between two tortillas on a plate. 3. Divide the salsa and corn evenly between the t...

In a culture that emphasizes power, determination and self-sufficiency, it's impossible for a woman to keep up. Busy women are applauded, successes are celebrated and weakness is seen as something to be purged from our vocabulary. Higher - faster - stronger - louder is all we hear. The problems that result from this mentality are worse than ever. We are exhausted, frustrated and cranky. We move so fast that we don't know if we're coming or going. And God forbid we take a break without feeling guilty. The truth is that we are insufficient in and of ourselves. We've long believed the lies that we should pull ourselves up by our boot straps and reach deep within to keep moving, doing and thinking. It's no wonder we're running ourselves ragged because we're trying to do the impossible - function under our own power. Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think anything as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God. 2 Corinthians 3:5 Matthew Henry ...

Whenever our local grocery store has something weird and wonderful in the produce section, we have to try it. This is how we learned about dragon fruit, rambutan and lots of other yummy treats. Grocery shopping really can be an adventure! So when I came across cactus pears this weekend, I couldn't resist. You've probably seen them in pictures of cactus in the desert. They're all covered with spines on a tough skin, which is why they're also called prickly pears. When you buy them in the store, though, they've already been cleaned and had the spines taken off. To make these yummy scones, I adapted one of my favorite pear recipes to work with cactus pears. Note: If you don't like seeds in your food, this is not the recipe for you. If you don't mind them so much, read on! Ingredients: For the scones - 4 cactus pear, peeled and diced 1 1/2 cups flour 1/4 cup sugar 1 1/2 tsp baking powder 1/2 tsp salt 6 Tbsp butter, diced very small 1/4 cup heavy ...

This year our church is again participating in Operation Christmas Child, a shoebox program that provides Christmas gifts and the story of Jesus Christ to children all over the world. As we gather small items to put in these boxes, I used a beautiful variegated yarn to make a girl's scarf. I don't know much about how to crochet, but I know the two stitches required to complete this pattern. If you're like me, here are some basic instructions. For those of you who do this on a regular basis, the actual pattern is at the bottom of this post. Start with a chain of 10, then add one more to make the turn (a total of 11 chain stitches). Single crotchet in the 10 loops of the chain, then chain one more to make the turn. On this row, single crochet in the back loop only. This is what gives you the ridges. Then chain one more to make the turn. Continue until it is the desired length or you run out of yarn, whichever comes first. Weave t...

The signs were hung in the school office where all the teachers could see them. There were no cute pictures or crazy fonts to catch their attention. They weren't printed in glow-in-the-dark ink or matted on seven layers of coordinating papers. The words were the important part. And they were simple words. Give the students your best every single day. Give them the best instruction you can possibly offer. Give them every ounce of your wisdom because that is what's in your heart. Students deserve the maximum effort a teacher can give every day. Every day. No exceptions. And daily in the temple, and in every house, they ceased not to teach and preach Jesus Christ. Acts 5:42 If these teachers had been instructed to put all their heart and mind into their efforts at school, how much more so are we to be sharing Jesus Christ in our daily lives? The apostles here in Acts had been imprisoned and beaten, then released with the command to never speak in the name of Christ a...

Molly had all kinds of firsts this week. It was her first long car ride. Her first stay in a hotel. Her first time meeting another Great Dane. Her first time meeting a German Shepherd puppy. Her first time having breakfast in a hotel with lots of people. Her first ride in an elevator, which was life-changing. Her first boudin, a southern delicacy.  Her first fireworks with both light and sound. Her first frozen custard. I wonder what the next trip will bring!

When we look the world around us with an eye to the Creator God, we can't help but stand in awe. It is impossible that the perfection of every detail could have happened with a bang or a microbe. All we have to do is adjust our focus and zoom in on the little things God has made. The Spirit of God moved across the waters, ready to begin His creation. With just a word, He brought light into being. Our Lord made a special place in the firmament called Heaven. He separated land from water as a home for the rest of His workmanship. Each blade of grass was lovingly shaped and placed in the ground. Herbs and seeds and trees were planted and encouraged to grow in abundance. The sun that wakes us up in the morning was placed in its rotation by the God of Light. In the dark of night, God gives us the moon. Imagine His joy as He began to fill the waters with creatures and the air with birds. These are just a glimpse of His creative nature. Soon the earth was covered with ...

Are you ready for a fun fall craft that becomes a sweet gift when you're done? Try these apple cider gift envelopes and then spread some autumn cheer. Step one: Cut an 8.5-inch square out of sturdy card stock. Mine is textured, which makes it even prettier. Step two: Cut the square down the middle diagonally using your paper trimmer or straight edge. Step three: You're going to fold each triangle into thirds, so mark them at 4 inches and 8 inches and fold into the center. Here is what they'll look like creased. Step four: Use the corner rounder on all three points. It's not necessary, but it looks a little more finished. Step five: Run adhesive along the bottom edge of the middle panel and fold the left flap over. Step six: Repeat on the right side. It will look like this when it's all folded together. It's the perfect size for a pouch of apple cider mix. Step seven: Decorate to...

Our teen girls Bible study has been meeting for a year now, and these girls are always challenging me. Not just because some days it feels like I'm herding cats, either. It's because I have to read more, study more and pray more to be able to share the Proverbs 31 woman with them. These girls are so smart, and they pick up on things so quickly, asking some great questions. She stretcheth out her hand to the poor; yea, she reacheth forth her hands to the needy . Proverbs 31:20 This is the first verse in the virtuous woman's description that moves away from blessing her family and home to working in the community. She has already done so many wonderful things and been an asset to the family, and this is her chance to help her neighbors in some very special ways. We need to start with the definitions of two words right off the bat.  Definition of poor: depressed in mind or circumstances, afflicted Definition of needy: in the sense of want, destitute, begga...

Why is it that the traits we dislike most in ourselves are the ones we see in other people? What tends to happen is we'll judge someone for their prideful ways when what we really hate is our own pride. Or we see sin in another woman's life and ignore the sin in our own. In Jesus' sermon on the mount, He tackles the topic of judging and hypocrisy in a clear and vivid way. Judge not, that ye be not judged. Matthew 7:1 This is perhaps one of the most quoted Scripture by a lost and dying world to justify their own actions. "Don't judge me because you're just as bad." "If you condemn what I'm doing, I'll dig into your life and pull out some skeletons, too." "Sure, I sin, but I see what you're doing, too." But when this verse is put back into the context of the passage, it's not about getting someone else in trouble or pointing fingers so we feel better about ourselves. It describes the radical surgery we need to do...